Mixed feelings around Car Free Day
Today is the first of many car-free days to come, we’re interested to know how many commuters take up the challenge… we don’t know many who will leave their cars at home purely based on the lack of time between appointments… We got no time to play in Joburg ! Let’s see how it goes… We wish the Department of Transport good luck on a great initiative…
p://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A104135″>BUSINESS DAY HAS THEIR SAY:
SA HAS its inaugural car-free day today as government encourages motorists to leave their vehicles at home and use public transport.
But commuter organisations, business bodies and trade unions said yesterday that they doubted the campaign would succeed without a viable alternative public transport system.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) dismissed the campaign as a “rhetorical and publicity-seeking” stunt by the transport department.
“It is quite clear to Satawu that the appeal of Transport Minister (Jeff) Radebe and his transport MECs for more people to use public transport will fall on deaf ears as long as public transport remains underfunded and poorly co-ordinated,” the union said.
Satawu general secretary Randall Howard said government needed to fund public transport and ensure that it was frequent, reliable, direct, safe and affordable before calling on people to leave their cars at home.
The Johannesburg branch of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the idea of a car-free day might be appealing but the public transport systems to make it possible were nonexistent.
“The campaign to instil a culture of using public transport will be stillborn until the city provides efficient and cost-effective transport systems,” said the chamber’s CEO, Marius de Jager.
Gauteng’s car-free day on Thursday will be voluntary, the City of Johannesburg said.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the city’s deputy director for transport management, Alfred Sam, said the city would not close any routes for private cars.
He conceded that Johannesburg did not have the best transport system in the world, but urged everybody to participate.
Sam said those who did not wish to use buses, taxis or trains were encouraged to use lift clubs, to share rides with colleagues and friends, to cycle or walk.
The municipal director of development planning, transport and environment, Amanda Nair, said the aims of car-free day, this year at least, were to create public awareness about the need to convert from private to communal forms of transport to reduce traffic congestion and cut back on air pollution. Both of these were good for the environment and would make Johannesburg a better place to live in.
“We are not saying Johannesburg has a good transport system. There’s a long way to go before we compare with the best in the world. We understand this and are working in that direction,” Nair said.
She said she expected car-free day to become an annual event.
Nair would not wager on how successful Thursday’s event would be.
“We all have our own levels of nervousness around what’s going to happen on the 20th. For year one we expect a ‘wait and see’ approach from most people. Going forward, we think all will get more committed to the concept. We are still at baby steps. I’m just happy people are aware of it and making it an issue.”
Asked what people using public transport could expect on Thursday, she said they would probably have “a diverse experience”.
Gauteng’s transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs recently used a train, a bus and a taxi to popularise October as public transport month and found the train and bus service erratic and his taxi unroadworthy.
Johannesburg’s director of transport planning and management, Bob Stanway, said the city was well aware of these problems and already in 2003 adopted an integrated transport programme to remedy them.
About a million of the city’s four million residents commuted every day. Forty-seven percent of their trips were by public means, 53% by private transport. Of that, 72% was by taxi, 14% was by rail and nine percent by bus.
National policy is for a spread of 80-20 in favour of public transport.
Average travel time to work for residents was 48 minutes. Those using private cars got there in 30 minutes and those commuting by taxi took 45 minutes. Getting to school usually takes 28 minutes.
